Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi: Original Motion Picture Score (1983) Complete Original Soundtrack Version 2009

×

Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi: Original Motion Picture Score (1983) Complete Original Soundtrack Version 2009

Close

Philip Glass' score for Godfrey Reggio's 1983 film Koyaanisqatsi comes from one of his most fertile creative periods, soon after Satyagraha and about five years after Einstein on the Beach, and it contains some of his most immediately appealing music. For listeners who are not likely to wade into one of his huge operas, Koyaanisqatsi's manageable dimensions make it an ideal introduction to Glass' work (if there is in fact anyone out there who has not yet been introduced to it) because many of its sections are so memorably distinctive. The opening, with a broadly amplified very low bass intoning the film's title (which means "life out of balance" in Hopi) while the orchestra weaves an apocalyptically menacing web is one of Glass' most unforgettable inventions. The ululating chorus of mixed voices, "Vessels," at first unaccompanied, and then joined by the throbbing of instruments, is a marvel of open-throated lyricism that should dispel any stereotypical misconceptions of Glass as a rigidly mechanistic technician.

This is the first release of the "complete" soundtrack to the film; at 76 minutes, it's only about 10 minutes shorter than the film itself. The 1983 soundtrack contained a half hour's less music than this new issue. (In the meantime, Glass and his ensemble had made a new recording of virtually all the music included on this release, but this the first time the actual soundtrack has been available.) Glass' ensemble, as always, performs with mind-boggling discipline and soulful commitment, and because of the darkly pessimistic tone of the film, with a stark and sobering gravity. His use of a large ensemble of orchestral instruments, as well as the Western Wind Vocal Ensemble, along with electronic instruments, allows him a wide palette, ranging from the warmth of human voices to the high-tech pulsing of synthesizers. Careful engineering is integral to Glass' compositional process, so the CD's sound is certainly his own best realization of his artistic vision.

Review by Stephen Eddins, Allmusic.com

This is the third release to feature Glass’s first film score. We’ve had an abbreviated version of the soundtrack, tailored to LP length, plus a near complete re-recording by the Glass Ensemble on Nonesuch. The new Orange Mountain release features the complete original soundtrack, including a few noises and effects, plus the contribution of Michael Hoenig, the original music director. The other way to get all this music Read more Koyaanisqatsi . If you’ve not yet seen Ron Fricke’s much-copied time-lapse photography, then it’s going to seem retro in feel when you finally do. But, as Glass says, seeing this film in the 1980s was like seeing the world for the first time.

I’ve known it since the early U.K. showings, and I owned the soundtrack LP before I saw the film. Hence, I’m more fan than objective critic when it comes to the movie plus music. Heard alone, and sounding good, the big Glass score seems like a leisurely symphony. It makes a big arc, from the first quiet organ notes to the last alienated snippets of sound. Two big climaxes are worked up in between. First, “Pruitt Igoe,” with a memorable, long-prepared kick-in of an up-tempo bass line. Then, “The Grid,” which sustains dark, inexorable mania for more than a quarter hour. Already in Glass’s work the Wagnerian scale (and influence) is clear. What makes Koyaanisqatsi so strong is the quality of the themes and melodic motifs, and the variety of treatment, from unaccompanied choir (“Vessels”) to the full-on familiar sound of the whole ensemble.

This original has more guts than the later Nonesuch, which is technically faultless but feels somewhat cold in comparison. There is, though, more weight to the lowest octave in the Nonesuch recording. The score is a period piece, helping define the way we all were (and how America and Glass were) in the early 1980s. Heard fresh, it comes up very well, even without nostalgia for the images it accompanied. The score’s about regret, born of observation, fading into the sounds of modern paranoia and the babbling media. But it still manages to be a comforting experience. There are very occasional rough edges to the sound, but the feel and drive are not impaired. So this enjoyable new disc joins the small handful of universally recommendable Glass CDs.

Review by Paul Ingram, FANFARE

×

Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi: Original Motion Picture Score (1983) Complete Original Soundtrack Version 2009

Close

×

Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi: Original Motion Picture Score (1983) Complete Original Soundtrack Version 2009

Close

×

Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi: Original Motion Picture Score (1983) Complete Original Soundtrack Version 2009

Close